Spider Man: Mounting the Darkness
by Shadow-Factor
Summary: Peter must learn to get over current, tragic difficulties and save his friendship with Harry, as the citizens of New York beg him to defeat a mutated ravage before it ensues destruction upon the city. Will he be able to solve these new, harsh dilemmas all at once in the struggle to restore order to his life? Story by Shadow-Factor & Homel001
1. Chapter 1: Sliding Away

Spider-Man: Mounting Darkness

By

Shadow-Factor & Homel001

**Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to Spider-Man. They are the property of Marvel Comics. We own the rights to the story.**

**Characters:**

Peter Parker/Spider-Man

Harry Osborne

Norman Osborne

Gwen Stacy

**Chapter One**

**Café - Manhattan**

Peter gripped Gwen's gentle hands as she did with his. He couldn't stop staring at her smile, it was unique and he didn't want to stay away from the joyful atmosphere she brought. Nothing could change what he was feeling with her, or so he thought. He gulped, with his following childish laugh brought an enlightening smile to Gwen's face. He felt it was time to get closer to her, it felt right to him. So he learned over the round wooden table towards her lips, both meeting slowly closer together as Gwen closed her eyes. Peter tried to, but the happiness he felt made his blue eyes widen in excitement. The first time they had ever shown deep emotions for each other in which she accepted. Suddenly, she backed away quickly, wiping her mouth and gasping in an embarrassing manner. Peter's mouth was left open as he patiently rubbed her arm, scratching his forehead as he had screwed something up.

"What happened?" Mumbled Peter.

"Uh, it's just that I didn't mean to do that" She replied, stressful.

"No! You did, and you proved it" He responded firmly.

"I let my emotions get in the way!"

"Look, I'm sorry!"

"It wasn't your fault, Peter, it's mine!"

Gwen pushed her chair back, meddling uncomfortably through her green purse as Peter sighed, rubbing his forehead.

* * *

Across the tiny Café on the Manhattan street stood a crummy aging bar barely holding itself. Inside, Harry Osborne sat lazily at the polished counter, taking a sip of beer as his weary eyes were focused on Peter and Gwen together. He cleared his throat, turning over to the frowning bartender, lowering his emotions further.

"You finally did it Peter" Harry murmured.

"How did I fail to be seen in your eyes, Gwen? How? What'd I do wrong. Poems, flowers, gifts, dinner! How!" He yelled in rage as the others in the bar turned to him, whispering to one another. He then heard a low gruff voice behind him.

"You can't buy love" Said the mysterious voice.

He turned around to find his father, wearing an expensive tuxedo and round glasses with perfectly combed brown hair giving him a demon-glare.

"Dad, what are you doing here!" Harry slurred.

"What are you doing here! You're a goddamn disgrace to the Osborne family. You're a burden!"

"Screw you! You're the worst father anyone can have!"

"What! You're the one weeping all night and getting dunk at stupid bars all day!"

"You were never there, dad"

"Maybe I would have if you hadn't been such a fool!"

"I'm out of here, NORMAN!" Harry Cried.

A saddened Harry turned over to the glass wall, only to find a puzzled Peter and Gwen outside on the sidewalk watching him and his father bark at each other like dogs with worried eyes he couldn't help look back at. He was sure Gwen was never to be with him after what she had seen him act and do all day. Argue and drink like an animal. He shoved past his glaring father and left, slamming the door shut behind him. Norman rubbed his teeth in slight anger he tried to tame, wiping dust off his shoulder.

Outside, Gwen turned towards Peter, gripping his arm.

"I hope Harry's okay"

"Me too, Gwen"

Only moments later would the sound of sirens ring in Peter's ears as he looked back and forth several times. He caught sight of five police cars swarming down the street non-stop. Breathing deeply, he struggled to say something to Gwen.

"Uh, uh Gwen, I…need to go somewhere. I'll get you a taxi"

"Wait! But we were going to the musical in…"

"Look, get home and I call you back for the musical"

"Uh, okay" She said with a depressed face.

He whistled twice and wave his hand in the road until a yellow taxi pulled up beside them and the passenger seat swung open. Gwen, looking back at Peter got in slowly, waving goodbye as Peter barely raised his hand. When the taxi drove off in a rush, Peter's eyes caught a nearby alley. Grinning, he ran into it, look up into the blue sky as he crouched down, taking out a blue and red patterned spandex from his brown ragged backpack. He squinted, grabbing his mask.

Meanwhile the speeding police interceptors failed to catch up to the black four door vehicle carrying pistols that blasted mysteriously out of the windows as the police tried to dodge the bullets from their cars as they looked up into the foggy clouds to find none another than… The Amazing Spiderman leaping into action. His uneven caved a bent on the top of the car as the guns popping out of the windows aiming messily at his him, before the bullet could even slide down the barrel, Spidey performed a high back flip, with the guns going off at each other as they all cracked into chunks of metal airborne. As for Spidey, was falling onto the road when he looked up onto the fleeing car, shooting thick webbing onto the back bumper, the car automatically hurled him rapidly into the same direction. He placed his feet on the ground as if he were water-skiing.

"Woohooo!" He shouted in glory as he jumped onto a parked car and sprinted upon more aligned parked cars as he kept the fleeing car in sights, lunging himself at the car again, landing barely as his climbed back onto the roof, jumping back and forth whenever a shot occurred. He giggled, his long arms spreading out as he gripped both passengers doors on the back, as it began tearing open and before he could lift it, it went flying into the opposite direction. As the thugs attempted to climb up miserably, he shot tangled web onto their eyes, blinding them as he grabbed them from their jackets, standing up still on the moving car as he looked back at them for a moment.

"You know, next time you plan a getaway, try using a real car! What the hell is this, a used Toyota! Geese my grandma can go faster… walking!" He replied sarcastically as he forcefully opened his hands, letting them falling onto the road, rolling over like rugs. Spidey, laughing his butt off, rubbed his head. He then got closer to the front window view, splattering it with webbing, causing the driver to recklessly crash other cars, shaking crazily.

"If anything, I've made your driving skills better!"

Spidey, holding greatly to the remaining doors, shot a cot of web at the engine hood, using all his might to swing it open, unveiling the smoking engine as he crawled calmly to the side of the car, grabbing and throwing out random components and tubes, shooting small webbing balls until the engine arose in reddish flames, lighting Spidey's mask on fire as he fell roughly onto the road, shaking his head in fear as the car flipped over in mid air, landing backwards, covered in massive scratches and caving bends and bumps as the two remaining criminals crawled out hurringly, moaning in severe pain as Peter, growling angrily threw himself into an alley, and in the deep shadows were no one could find a sight, he ripped his damaged mask off, his head trembling in adrenaline.

"Jesus christ!" He yelled to himself.

"I nearly got myself a heart attack!"

* * *

Later that day...

In the awkwardly silent room, Mac Gargan, a blonde haired ragged clothed middle aged adult sat tiredly on his seat/booth glaring at himself in the mirror. He breathed heavily, his eyes watering up as his cracked door swung open. He gasped before he could even turn around, finding NORMAN OSBORNE!

He got up cautiously as Norman smiled with his hands folded behind his back.

"Who are you?" said Mac in his light voice.

"Oh, I'm Norman J. Osborne, CEO and founder of Oscorp Industries, nice meeting you" Responded Norman innocently, stretching his hand out for a handshake. Mac shook his hand, little by little as Norman sighed.

"What do you want; tell Frankie I don't own anymore cash for him!"

"No, I'm not here for that manner, and neither am I concerned for that. See Oscorp Industries is working on a serum that will enable the enhancement of the human strength, speed, and agility beyond its thought potential. And we need a human trial to test the effects of it. And we need something fierce, which can erupt strength into this project and I wanted to give the small guy a break. I know your film was panned by critics. I also know you want attention, to let everyone you're a caring human being who is fearless, and this will give you the chance.

"I don't know what to say"

Norman held his shoulder as he continued on.

"You don't have to"

* * *

Peter lit his bedroom with the purple lamp, quietly falling onto the leathery couch and laid back, relaxing for the first time. He reach in his pocket, struggling until he pulled it out. The crystal clear ring carrying the wide gleaming diamond. His eyes sparkled as he kept looking at it.

"Gwen, I'm still not ready" He whispered to himself.

He needed to find a way to spend more time with her before he could even think of heading to the next direction, the most important part of his life even, and even god knows he couldn't cope the pain of rejection and, and reality he was yet to see. His eyes widened as he cleared his throat, getting up in a fit.

"Dam! I forgot about the musical!"

He reached for the phone on his busted aging cabinet, only to hear a voice message from Gwen.

"Uh, Peter, after waiting half an hour I decided to call it off, sorry"

His eyes watered up as he sighed.

"No, I'm sorry"


	2. Chapter 2: Fearful Creation

**Please review, we would really appreciate it!**

**Chapter Two**

The next morning, Peter constantly beat himself up as he dragged his heels along the street. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping as he headed for the bus stop in Forest Hills. He just hated the feeling but he was all too familiar with it. This scenario happened in the past with so many dates. He thought he could just shrug it off, but he couldn't. Gwen was simply too fragile to be blown off like that.

His plans for the day were the usual; make a quick buck at the Daily Bugle with some pictures that he had collected over the week. He hated J. Jonah Jameson with a vengeance, but if it meant getting the money to make it up to Gwen, then he knew what to do. As he slowly stepped off the bus, he was totally oblivious to the newspaper stand which was selling the morning headlines. On the front page, Peter spotted Oscorp's picture along with Norman Osborne himself. He sniffed his nose and walked on casually. It wasn't until he made it to Union street station, when he finally bought a paper.

"_Osborne's finally cracked the code to neo-genetics." _he thought to himself as he scanned the front articles. _"Harry's dad must be raking the money after this. I wouldn't be surprised if Harry Himself turns up in a new convertible with a built in TV and even a driver's seat with a porter-potty!"_

He continued on to the Daily Bugle, which shone in the glowing morning sunlight. He hated the place as it was very much like a personal hell to him. Never the less, he wanted to buy Gwen some flowers, even take her out for a romantic dinner. He wasn't surprised if she never wanted to speak to him again after the previous night, but as before, only time would tell.

* * *

Meanwhile, Norman Osborne was holding a private conference with his associates at the top floor of the elegant Oscorp Tower, standing out from the rest of the skyscrapers of New York City. They were discussing the events and results of their latest neo-genetic project, labelled Project Scorpion. Norman had a personal found interest in the subject which made him get where he is now. As he went around the room, he handed out photo copied sheets of the test results to his associates.

"What you're looking at, Gentlemen are the results of the DNA Fusions made on our best test subject." He remarked confidently as he sat back down, crossing his scaly fingers. "We were astonished at our results but after years of research we can conclude that Dr. Connors's work has finally paid off."

"Am I seeing this straight?" asked one of the associates emotionless. "Who is the test subject exactly, Mr. Osborne?"

"His name is Mac James Gargan." Norman replied. "He is a former actor who volunteered for this experiment on the grounds that we were going to pay him 1/4 of the profit this project was going to produce. As you can see on the x-ray scan copies I've provided, that his blood work and DNA strands have been completely re-written. He has become a man-sized scorpion."

"What are you talking about!" exclaimed an associate.

Norman sighed, rubbing his sweaty forehead in dismay.

"With the help of our little genetically altered scorpion Dr. Connors experimented on, he is gained the supreme strength, agility, speed, and stealth a scorpion carries, enabling him to project deadly toxins such as the arachnid would. It is very similar to the "Spider-Man" phenomenon witnessed today" Replied Osborne.

"Have there been any side affects?" asked another associate.

"So far there have been no effects physically and mentally." Norman answered. "He is due for a biological screening tomorrow to determine whether his DNA still mutates or not. Gargan should consider himself a lucky man. He's just made it into the history books."

"Norman, we'll need to see actual proof that this neo-genetic experiment has been perfected. We can't afford to take any risks."

Suddenly, just before Norman could reply, a huge explosion rocked the building, forcing everyone to the floor. The windows shattered and the wide alarms sounded with its red lights and tremendous beeping, flooding the room. Everybody rushed out to safety except for Norman, who wasn't going to go anywhere. Getting up swiftly and brushing himself off, he looked and headed towards the broken windows and took a peak outside. The labs below were in flames accompanied with the sounds of screaming and panic. It was complete chaos.

An odd shaped figure emerged from the green smoke which sent a cold chill down Norman's spine. The figure was huge, bulky and spawned a huge lengthy tail. It was his project, his lab-rat. It was Gargan. Hitting the security alarm, Norman issued an order to have his guards take down the monster. As he rushed down towards the lower levels, another explosion shook the corridors. He made it through the flames and out into the open where he shielded his eyes from the sun. The monstrous figure approached him from ahead, slowly growing in size and revealing it's features. Norman's eyes widened and his jaw dropped at the sight of the monstrous scorpion man. What had he created?

Mac Gargan was no longer human. His body size had grown dramatically, his skin colour had changed to a deathly grey, his eyes were yellow and his teeth were as sharp as that of a shark. A 9ft long tale had grown outwards from his spine along with claws on his fingers and toes. Norman could see the rage in his eyes. He was in pain.

"Gargan! W-what happened here?" he asked innocently.

"YOU DID THIS TO ME!" Gargan replied as his tail, knocked Norman off his feet. "I'M NO LONGER MAC GARGEN. YOU CAN NOW CALL ME THE SCORPION. NOW OSBORNE. YOU…WILL…PAY!"

"Hey if anybody's going to pay, it you!" Yelled a bright youthful voice.

* * *

Gargan, now Scorpion for that manner, turned around in shock to find Spider-Man, clinging onto the metal wall looking right back at him. Scorpion, growling in a raging manner prowled onto the wall, rubbing his brownish sharp teeth.

"If there's anything threatening about you ugly, it's that stinky breath of yours! Yeesh, you know there's a gift shop here, right? Get a breath mint, that'll save all of us!" Spidey said cheerfully as he shot a clot of webbing onto Scorpion's aged grey face as he jumped onto the corner ceiling, giggling as he carefully meddled with his tiny web-shooters.

Scorpion ripped the web off his face easily and screamed angrily. "ARRRRRR!"

"I'm going to rip that big mouth of yours, webhead!" Scorpion snarled as he cautiously walked towards him.

Spidey leaped onto the Scorpion's back, blinding him with chunky webbing as he gave his stomach harsh kicks and punches, struggling as he did so.

"God, your spine's taller than Everest!"

Scorpion used his claws and gripped Spidey's neck, picking him up and spinning rapidly with Spidey in his beefy arms, throwing him far onto a lab counter, Spidey's fall complete with the clattering of beakers and containers from his impact, sluggishly falling over into a bubbling water tank, trying to swim out before Scorpion, grinning evilly jumped into the water, clutching Spidey's muscular arm before he could get some air, shoving him towards the bottom, giving him a trembeling fist to his chest, causing a hurt Spidey to hurl towards the back of tank, cracking the bulletproof glass as water spilled out fast, Spidey blocking another of Scoprion's slow punches and making his way behind him, using his webbing to tie up his tail on his back, Scorpion quivering warily as Spidey grabbed his head pushed it towards the crack as fast as he could, Scorpion breaking the glass as he landed onto a a silvery capsule, giving him a red bump on his forehead as he accidently released blue gas into the air, spreading gradually as Spidey worryingly turned over to Norman, who cleared his throat nervously, hardly breathing as he walked back patiently.

"Hey deeply traumatized billionaire! Haven't seen YOU in a long time friend! Look that gas, it, uh may be dangerous, so it'd be best to, um, I don't know, GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Shouted Spidey

"This is all your fault, your the one who released the X-Gene-9001!"

"X-a'what!"

"It's artificial mutant-genes! It's going to make that freak more powerful thanks to you!"

"Oh boy!"

Spidey shot a web string onto the ceiling, breaking off an air vent cap as he web zipped into the air vent, shooting webbing towards a frightened Norman, pulling him up easily. They crawled towards the bright light far ahead, mumbling confusedly.

Spidey began thinking to himself as Norman hardly caught up to him towards the distant exit.

"Oh god, my web-shooters are busted! It all went so fast! How I got here, and, and Gwen! I need to find her and Harry, fast!"

To Be Continued...


	3. Chapter 3: Showcasing of Cruelty

**Please read & review, Homel001 and I really want to know your guy's opinions!**

Chapter Three

"Need to find Gwen!" He said in his head.

One hour earlier…

Peter's weary eyes lit up when he saw the beautiful flower stand before him. He cleared his throat, approaching the elderly clerk with five dollars in his hands.

"What yah want kid?" Questioned the clerk grumpily.

"Uh, I just want to um uh buy a bunch of those roses. How much do they cost?"

"Oh. 4 bucks"

"Alright. You got change"

"Yah, sure, hurry this up kid!"

"Alright, geese!"

Peter angrily passed the crumbled five dollar bill over to the rude clerk, who lazily threw a dollar over to him, barely catching it as he mumbled fiercely as he carried the neatly bunched roses in his gloved hand.

"What a jerk!" He thought to himself as walked into the Bugle's entrance.

"Well, the elevator's more subtle than web-swinging, right?" He whispered to himself as he impatiently flickered the same button until the elevator door shut, sighing as he sniffed the flowers.

"Need to hurry this up, Gwen's waiting up at Oscorp. Wonder what Harry wants? Ever since the fiasco at the bar, it's been weird trying to talk to him. I thought it'd be best to leave him alone for a while to settle things with his dad. Hope they did"

The elevator finally opened up the the top floor the Daily Bugle, unveiling Peter the busy and clustering journalist and photographers shouting and loudly talkative, making their way back and forth.

"Times Square is worst than this place!"

His jaw fell over when he caught Jameson, his flaming eyes staring right at his face as he rushed over to him waving his reddish hands in irritation, his short cigar almost falling off from his mouth.

"Dam it Peter, you're late again!"

"It's just that my."

"Don't want to hear about how everyone noticed your zit in English class, okay! I've got bigger problems right now, and that's front page coverage, you got the photos of that web-slinging menace!" Jameson yelled fasted paced.

Peter scratched his head, handing Jameson over his blue school binder.

"What is this?"

"Uh, these are the pictures of Spider-Man fighting off burglars attempting to rob the Natural History Museum."

"Yeah right! He probably set up the entire thing to look like the big prancing hero everyone thinks he is!"

"Not his again" Peter quietly murmured.

"What was that?" Asked Jameson.

"Oh nothing!"

"Good, not get out of here, I don't want to see your face right now"

"Bye, bye J.J!"

Peter ran out, holding the roses behind his back, wiping the sweat off his face.

"Thank god I'm finally done with that Bozo!" He thought to himself as he ran out onto the rooftop of the Bugle, watching as hundreds of taxis stumbled onto one road into another beneath him. He smiled, placing the flowers gently next to him on the floor.

"Time to get going, Spidey!"

He grabbed his backpack, putting in front of him as he calmly took off his clothes, having his costume underneath.

"Wow, my outfit is more ragged than my love life"

He then languidly threw his street clothes into his backpack and sealed it shut, tightening up on his backpack as he kept the bunched up flowers in his gloved hand, jumping off the building as he shot a lace of webbing with his free hand, swinging freely towards the sunset, which was tough to ignore.

* * *

Meanwhile…

Gwen and Harry sat silently on the lobby counter of the luxurious Oscorp building, witnessing several businessmen and women stumble back and forth on their Bluetooth headsets as all their timid voices combined made a loud roaring that Harry was used to ever since he was a small child. He remembered the old days were he would play in his father's office and his office supplies, and break them, getting in deep trouble when his father returned. He turned his head to Gwen, who seemed really down and took this opportunity to get close to her.

"Gwen, what's wrong"

"Why'd you ask?"

"It's that you looked so depressed and I couldn't help but ask why"

"It's just that I feel Peter is using me like a toy"

"How exactly?"

"It's just that at first it seemed he really was into me and he treated me like I was the center of his universe and then when I, I felt we had trust and faith in each other it was over for him and now he's just pushing me away from him all the time, and that's why I'm afraid to get closer, I hate the feeling he's going to reject me again at any moment"

"I know how you feel"

"Really?"

"Yeah. Me and Peter, we used to be best buds in High School and ever since we graduated and my Dad became successful with the Neo-Genetics project it's like I'm just his pet"

"What do you mean?"

"Whenever Dad gets me something big and stupid, like a dumb sports car, Peter is suddenly my best friend again!"

"I guess Peter isn't who he seems"

"Yeah, you're telling me. It's hard because Peter's the only one who's stuck around with me since 7th Grade. He's one of my only close companions, and I can't just tell him to screw off! I just want somebody who appreciates me for me"

"Huh"

Harry and Gwen suddenly felt as if they were the only ones who existed in their own little worlds and couldn't stop thinking in each other because of that. Harry moved his head closer so hers, staring at her seemingly luscious lips as she tried to hold back what she was feeling inside for Harry. She never took the time to realize how Harry feels, his neglectful father, unhelpful friend and no one special for him. He had a right to be so sad and full of anger. She leaned over towards him, and as their lips were moments away from touching each other, A loud high pitch "Hi!" interrupted as they pulled back from each other nervously, only to find Peter, covered in dust handling Gwen dying crowded roses.

"What's this?"

"Oh, it's just some flowers I wanted to get you, to make up for last night"

"Oh, that's nice, and you didn't have to do this"

"No, I insist I can't let anything like that go by again"

"Thanks Peter"

Harry then padded Peter on the back, approaching him.

"Got any flowers for me"

"Ha, ha, ha! So where are we heading?"

"We're going to the pizza place downtown"

"Oh, great" Said Peter with a smile.

"Yeah, but I've got a surprise for you guys!"

"Really!"

"Come on upstairs"

The three young adults hurried their up the marvel, polished stairs, chatting as they did so. Suddenly, the building wobbled treacherously as the three were knocked down to the floor. An alarm rung loud beeping and red flashing lights as Harry and Gwen helped each other up. Peter cleared his throat, running down the stairs.

"Peter, where are going!" Yelled Harry in puzzlement.

"Sorry, I need to leave!" Shouted Peter back to him.

As Harry couldn't see Peter's body no longer with the grey cloudy smoke in the air covering space surrounding them, A bright flash of light coming from the end of the hallway, getting closer with massive speed. Harry, walking back slowly let his hand go of a crawling Gwen.

"Harry, help me up!" Gwen exclaimed with tears falling from her blue eyes.

"What?"

Harry, his eyes wider than the explosion itself it seemed tripped over Gwen's purse, falling badly down the flight of stairs as he accidently escaped the explosion, bashing his head onto the lobby floor, knocked out as blood from the back part of head spread out leisurely, as he mumbled little by little.

* * *

Back to the present…

As Spidey and Norman reached the vent exit, Spidey kicked the vent cover open with his booted feet, leaping out the rubble and wreckage caused by the explosion.

"What the hell happened here!" Screamed Spidey in terror.

"Scorpion must have set off one of the chemical containers, causing an explosion, no surprise Gargan was such an idiot"

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"Now with that menace on the loose, NYC's a goner"

"Gwen and Harry!"

"What! Harry should have left by now with Peter and Gwen, right?"

"Jesus Christ! Where are they?"

Suddenly, out of the rubble crawled Harry, coughing out dust as the blood on his head dried up, barely able to walk as Spidey lifted him up carefully.

"Where's Gwen!" Asked Spidey seriously.

"No, not Gwen! I'm sorry Spider-Man!" Replied Harry, hopelessly as he fell to his knees.

"What happened?" Questioned Norman.

"Gwen isn't with us anymore!" Cried Harry.

Spider-Man, whimpering in pain looked up at the cracked ceiling. Angry at the world for taking away the love of his life, all he could do was cry, shout in emotional damage.

"No!" He cried piercingly.

He sniffed up the twinge he felt, cracking his neck and glared at Harry behind his mask.

"I need to find Gargan, now!"

Norman took a deep breath, holding Harry up.

"Look, why do you care so much about Gwen?"

"Uh, she and I,.."

"Peter? It's you!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is! Stop lying to us! That's why Gwen felt so.."

"Felt so what?"

"Nothing"

"Exactly, if we hadn't wasted our time coming here for some stupid pizza she'd still be alive"

"Hey, if you hadn't left!"

"I have my priorities and you could have saved her, coward!"

"Now this is not the time to fight, Gwen died, Harry is seriously hurt and many businessmen and women died today. We need to find Gargan before he causes more harm!"

"Your right Osborne. The toxic trails he left behind will be enough to trace him back into his presumable hiding place he's probably found by now"

"This was my fault too; I'll have the latest models of the Oscorp-bots accompanying you as well"

"Thanks, Osborne, let's head back to the main lab and get to finding those tracks, as for your useless son of yours, I think he'd be safer here"

Harry wiped the blood covered tears off his cheeks, spitting out more gore as he struggled to get a hold of the counter, growling angrily.

"You're just doing this because you've realized your guilt!"

"Maybe so, but it'll be both our guilt that'll torments us"


	4. Chapter 4: Destroyed Confidence

**Please review, we would appreciate it!**

Chapter Four

The sky was depressing grey and the clouds cried rain onto the soft grass as all the men and women stood wearily in black elegant clothes, gathering around the cobble gravestone which read GWEN STACY, 1990 - 2012. Harry's eyes were watery, his timidly voice was nasal while tears rushed down his face. He brushed off and gulped, kneeling before her tombstone.

"Gwen, I'll always love you" Harry whispered miserably.

Just before he left his share of flowers on the side of her burial ground, he slowly turned around in minor curiosity, spotting Peter, dressed in his frayed, red and blue outfit crouching on top of the ringing church tower, looking down at everyone at her funeral as he laid his glove hand over his masked head.

"How dare you Peter" He thought in despair and brief irritation.

* * *

Two weeks had flown past so quickly following Gwen's funeral. For close friends and family, it was a time for closure and a chance to move on, but it was a different story for Peter and Harry. The pair had been at each other's throats since the explosion, both unwilling to forgive each other for what had happened. Peter wanted Osborne as he felt that he was responsible for the events that happened. Harry wanted Peter for his callousness. The two had not spoken to each other and deliberately tried to avoid each other as they would take different sidewalks, subway routes and bus stops in order to avoid seeing each other's faces. Their friendship had truly died, and it was proven.

It was a sunny Monday morning when Peter headed down the Forest Hills street on his rusty moped. He felt he couldn't do anything without seeing Gwen pop out in his mind. How he let her go so easily towards her death. She was just minutes away. Suddenly, his spider-sense alerted him of a nearby danger. He had been hoping that it was the giant Scorpion that he had been tracking throughout the city for days. So far, he had no luck with it, he was assuming that was about to change. Quickly, he pulled the brakes on his moped, stopping it immediately, and when no one was around, he swung into an alley, changing into his costume. Once he was ready, he wildly leaped across the rooftops towards the area of danger he sensed. As he landed and perched himself on top of a roof, he was amazed to see that the police had cordoned off the street. No one was hurt but a huge hole had appeared in the road which led down to the sewers beneath. Spidey inspected the hole carefully to find that it was a tunnel that had been cleverly dug. He wanted to go down, but the severed electrical cables made it too dangerous for him to crawl down. So there was only one other way. He was going to dive down.

"_Well I don't really have any experience in water aerobics, but here goes."_He thought as he prepared to dive.

Using his strength, Spidey formed his body into the shape of the arrow and headed for the hole. With one quick swoop, he entered the hole and burst his way through the electrical cables that could've fried him. He landed with a plash down in the dark caverns of the New York sewer system. The place stank and was piled in garbage as Spidey tried hard not to puke inside his mask. He always tried hard to avoid going down there but he knew that his luck would bring him back.

"_Right now how hard can it be?"_he thought vigorously while heading cautiously in a random direction. _There's a 6 foot monster down here with a tail the size of the Coney Island promenade and bad teeth. He shouldn't be hard to find, right"_

As he scaled the tunnel wall, He could hear a foul growling sound that echoed from the darkness up head. It sent a chill down his spine which left him feeling apprehensive to go further. Getting himself together, he moved onwards. The tunnel led to a room where there were a dozen switch boards that controlled the sewer turbines. Spidey ashamedly recognized the place from an earlier encounter that he had with the Lizard. The switchboards were sparking as if they had been tampered with, even destroyed. Above them was another hole which led up towards another level of the sewer system. Spidey web-zipped upwards through the hole and clung onto the slimy wall. He had found the Scorpion prowling idiotically.

"Hey Gargan!" he shouted as he fired a shot of webbing at the creature. "So this is where you hang out? Well it's not upper class but I like it. It has that, Umm.. slimy look. No wonder you like this place"

"You again!" Scorpion loudly snarled as he used his tale to knock the wall crawler to the ground. "I don't know how you found me, but you will never leave here alive, and that I can assure!"

"Is that so now Scorpy?" Spidey replied as he continuously dodged the Scorpion's attacks. "Because we surface spiders don't like the sewers that much. In fact, I wonder if you could do me a little favor and perhaps, I don't know, make my job easier and turn yourself in?"

"Don't make me laugh, you stupid bug!" Scorpion replied as he hit the wall crawler in the chest, sending him through the wall. "Don't you see what's happened! I'm not the bad guy here, Norman Osborne did this to me! He ruined my life and you're just making it harder!"

Spidey emerged from the wall and staggered towards the Scorpion, regaining his strength, he leapt upwards and fired a barrage of web balls to subdue the enraged Scorpion.

"Don't you understand Gargan. I can help you return to who you were." He continued as he pinned the beast to the floor. "It still can be done let alone the damage that you've done to the labs. All I need you to do is come with me."

"I…I don't trust you!" Scorpion groaned.

"Hey! Arachnids got to stick together, right amigo!

A raging Scorpion had enough of his smart talk and sliced through the thick webbing and sent the wall crawler up towards the bright street. "I'll never trust you or anyone else again! YOU'VE RUINED MY LIFE AND OVER TIME YOU WILL ALL PAY!"

Sometime later, Spidey regained consciousness and quickly realized that he was back on the street side. His sight was a bit fuzzy but he could easily make out the noisy crowd that was forming around him along with a few shattered cars and burst water pipes.

"_I got to get the hell out of here before the boys in blue arrive."_He thought as he picked himself up off the pavement and swung off into the city.

He had travelled quite away through the sewers as he swung tiredly across the George Washington Bridge and towards his favorite hiding spot; behind the warehouse at the small pier. As he arrived at the destination, he quickly changed into Peter Parker and decided to get the bus home. He paid his ticket and winced in pain as he slumped down into his seat. The journey was a long one but it gave him time to reflect on his fight with Scorpion.

"_He sure did a number on me. My ribs feel like they've been cut to shreds."_He thought as he stared blinkingly out of the window. _"If only Gargan could listen to me. If only he would realize that I am trying to help him not kill him. If only he knew that Spider-Man hates Norman as well as he does. It hurts so much when I think of Gwen and yet I feel like it's my fault, why? It was Harry! If he saved himself, he could have saved Gwen on time!_

When he finally arrived home, he noticed a black limousine parked outside his suburban house in Queens. He recognized the plates anywhere. It was the Osborne limousine. Brushing himself off and acting casually, he walked towards his house and prepared for a confrontation with his aunt. He thought this because most incidents would normally involve his Aunt May. As he approached the door, he was stopped in his tracks by Harry.

"Peter. I've been looking for you." He said with a fierce look in his eye. "I was beginning to think that you fled the country with your guilty conscience."

"Not now Harry. I haven't got time for this." Peter replied as he prized Harry's grip off his shoulder.

"Yes now!" Harry snarled. "I'm going to say this once because you deserve to hear it! You're the most despicable, heartless sack of crap that I have ever known and I hope you rot in hell for what you did that day. Gwen needed you in her life and you walked away! I'll always blame you for her death. You had to drag us to Oscorp didn't you! You didn't even think to check if she was okay with going there! It's all about you isn't it!"

"NOOO!" Peter snapped as tears fled from his red eyes. Clearing his throat, he gave a fierce punch to Harry's jaw, almost throwing him off balance. Harry glared back at Peter, who continued speaking.

"It was always about you! Don't think that I haven't seen the signs, Osborne! I've known from beginning that you've all for Gwen and that it was always your true intention to steal her away from me. You were never happy for us! NEVER HAPPY! It was your father that killed her with that Scorpion freak. You're supposed to be my best friend Harry, not a self centered, moronic jerk who planned on making his best friend's life a living hell. UNDERSTAND THAT!

"This isn't over, Parker." Harry replied as he wiped the blood from his lips. "You've never appreciated what I've done for you. Gwen never deserved you after the way you treated her. She should've been with me. I would've kept her safe!"

"That was her choice to make not mine." Peter interrupted as he turned away to hide his tears. "She could've been with you but she didn't because she didn't love you. You guys had nothing in common. She was middle class, you were rich, she protested against Wall Street, your dad is Wall Street! She loved me. You can't blame me because of the choices she made. Any sane person would know that."

"Then who do I blame for this atrocity?" Harry blubbered as he reached for his Handkerchief.

"She never loved you! She wanted a true men, you were just a goddamn coward!"

As Peter rushed inside his house, his elderly Aunt May approached him worryingly.

"Peter, is everything alright?"

Peter didn't even look back at her, responding neglectfully.

"No!"

He ran up to his bedroom in great pain of stress, jumping onto his bed. He dug in his pocket, pulling out a tin tube of green, bubbling fluids. He held it carefully, sighing as he did so.

"I've got you now, Gargan!" He exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Harry was left to weep lonely on his front door step. For the first time in his life, Harry thought over what Peter said to him. He got back into his limo and sat there motionless as the car slipped away into the lustrous sunset.


End file.
